Conventional electric motors have an internal rotor and an external stator. Typically both the rotor and stator having a large number of iron or steel laminations in order to increase the magnetic flux path from the magnetic poles on the rotor, whether these magnetic poles be wound electromagnetic poles or the magnetic poles of permanent magnets.
Attempts have been made to produce "ironless" motors, and we have developed such a motor described in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,125 (or described in PCT/GB 8800742).
There is a need to increase the power output of such "ironless" motors, but without incurring the disadvantages of iron or steel laminations, i.e. increased weight, current losses, and more importantly the resultant high inductance of such conventional steel lamination motors.